A person's guilt will eventually manifest itself on their own terms. For most people, guilt is a difficult psychological experience. The effects can therefore be very diverse. In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, the effects of guilt and guilty conscience are a recurring theme displayed throughout the text. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the two characters that Shakespeare reveals to be the most evil, experience an abundance of guilt and its unwanted side effects. Through the characters' dialogues and soliloquies, the reader can identify the precise moments when guilt is unavoidable. Shakespeare's Macbeth clearly demonstrates how guilt can affect a person's actions and uses this concept to develop one of the play's many themes. The character Macbeth suffers the effects of a guilty conscience in the play after crudely obtaining the throne of Scotland. As soon as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth kill Duncan, Macbeth begins to have auditory hallucinations. Macbeth says: “I seemed to hear a voice crying: “Sleep no more! / Macbeth kills sleep’” (II.ii.35-36). Macbeth believes he hears a voice telling him that he will never sleep again because he has “murdered sleep”. At this point, Macbeth's guilty conscience begins to manifest and causes Macbeth's confusion and despair. Later, Macbeth begins to hear a knocking sound that scares him. In his terror, Macbeth said, “To know my deed, it is better not to know myself.” » (II.ii.73). Macbeth says that if he understands what he has done, he wants to remain dazed. Macbeth begins to want to wake Duncan at this point, revealing his true remorse for his crime. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth exerts a strong influence over Macbeth's actions and experiences her own share of guilt. Lady Macbeth appears in Act...... middle of paper ...... which I am, not because of their own demerits but because of mine. Their souls were massacred. May heaven rest them now! (IV.iii.222-227) Macduff refers to himself in the third person out loud, speaking to his own conscience. He says they weren't killed because they did something wrong, but they were killed because of him. Furthermore, Macduff expresses his anger against God, which is common in man when he is guilty. In conclusion, for most people, guilt is a difficult psychological experience. In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, guilt is a recurring theme. Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff all feel guilt in different ways. Macbeth encounters rage and hallucinations; Lady Macbeth faces sleepwalking and Macduff experiences heartbreak and simple consequences. The piece clearly demonstrates how guilt can affect the conscience - a very practical and functional theme.